The Curiosity Files

File #18: James Lang on Distraction

How might we learn to intentionally cultivate attention?  How does the reciprocal nature of attention contribute to the experience of belonging? How can modular planning for classroom experiences contribute to increased achievement and optimal challenge? Dr. James Lang, author of the recently published, Distracted: Why Students Can't Focus and What You Can Do About It, pushes listeners to deliberately reframe attention so that it is not considered the norm, with distraction as the falling away from the norm, but an achievement that can be cultivated carefully.

File #14: Ryan Burke, Founding and Senior Partner, Leadership + Design, on Fear

How might we manage fear as it percolates in the classroom? How does fear-setting help us use the emotion as a doorway? Why do people in schools struggle to communicate bad news? Ryan Burke, Founding and Senior Partner at Leadership + Design, helps us grapple with this strong emotion in an era where it runs rampant.

File #12: Christian Talbot and the Basecamp Team on Expeditionaries

How do we make room in a crowded curriculum for the passions and interests of our students? How might we reframe our roles to advance student voice and agency? How can the hero's journey frame the arc of a classroom exploration? How might we front-load a learning experience to build anticipation and create lasting motivation? Christian Talbot, Founder and Princpal of Basecamp, and his team reflect on their first virtual "expeditionary" in social entrepreneurship. Their reflection on their own roles and goals and the insights gained following their shift from in-person to online learning facilitation provides a fresh look at how to frame our work.

File #11: E. Gordon Gee, President, West Virginia University, on Purpose and Possibility

What possibilities does the current existential moment in higher ed offer? Why is culture-building paramount to talent to ensure our schools are places of purpose? Why is uniformity the enemy of success in school structures? America's university president, E. Gordon Gee, joins us to reflect on the connective tissue between K-12 schools and universities. Having served as a university president since 1981, from West Virginia University to the University of Colorado to The Ohio State University to Brown to Vanderbilt and back again, President Gee offers insights into ways to turn the collateral damage of the current moment into collateral opportunity.

File #10: Carla Silver, Executive Director, Leadership + Design, Task, Maintenance and Group Life

How do you give everyone in the group a sense of agency and ownership while keeping the team focused on a common goal? How do I manage a group when my emotions feel unmanageable at the moment? How do we create and maintain a group culture which encourages members to assume good intent and shared purpose regardless of position and title? Carla Silver, Executive Director of Leadership + Design, uses the Waterline Model to explain why teams need to spend time on group "maintenance" instead of a singular, laser focus on "task".  She leverages L + D's core values - people, collaboration, action, transformation, and joy - to help groups "build capacity, create conversations, and make connections."